I’m taking the BassBuzz course (loving it). I started with a new Yamaha BB234 PJ bass. I had a local full-time guitar tech do a full setup. For my next higher dollar purchase, I would like to get an exotic wood, through the neck masterpiece. Is it wrong to put the aesthetics so high on the priority list. Most are fairly pricey, so I guess they would have superior electronics and hardware. Be gentle to this newbie.
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Aesthetics definitely come into play. But playability and feel is more important. My opinion of course.
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IMHO, it’s wrong to give a rat’s ass what anyone else thinks. Live your life @russ.hewitt.jr , you only get one, and if you do it right, it’s all you’ll need.
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If you like the look of it and you can afford it, go ahead and buy it.
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mate your living your dream ! !
but neck through basses dont have to be expensive, I started with a used one like that, was cheep and cheerfull
and the hardware on it is not bad at all, though I have replaced the preamp, with a glockenklang one, cos old preamps are maby not the best
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The brutal truth is
It’s like Sex, they all get the job done. I recorded with my $150 Squier all the time. But there’s nothing like holding a premium bass. 
Luckily I’m shallow
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I love the feel of the through-necks. There’s just something about not having that blocky neck joint hitting your hand when up high. That said, how often will you actually be playing up there? I got a cheap Leo Jaymz 4 string off of Amazon with the intention to modify it. I’m in the process of doing that now. The body and neck are great for the price. The hardware decent, and the electronics pretty mid-low. What I’ll have when done is fairly close to a mix of Schecter’s Stiletto Studio and SLS Elite.
IMO, practice is what will make you good and get better, but you also need to WANT to pick up your instrument and play. If you don’t have that motivation or inspiration, you won’t get as much out of it. If getting what you want won’t put you in a bad spot financially, I say go for it!
If you’re expecting a predictably obvious answer to that question (e.g., “I don’t play up the neck often”), you’ll likely be surprised. Truth be told, many players are all over the neck, lower frets, mid position and way up high.
Personally, I play well beyond the twelfth fret very often, whether for walking bass lines or soloing. It’s both a choice and an opportunity to experience the bass’s palette of tonality and expression. Plus, it’s fun as hell.
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If that’s what motivates you and you can afford it then why the hell not?
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I know some people say they never play that high. And I rarely do… yet! Working on the improv and soloing stuff. But even the 17th fret feels much better with my hands on my 24 fret neckthru than anything else I have.
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Learn to play first. Having a Ferrari is great unless you can’t drive.
Learning how to drive in a Ferrari sounds utterly fantastic.
@russ.hewitt.jr, buy the bass that is special to you and makes you want to play. Life is short. Enjoy it!
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Nothing about this is wrong and I am usually the first person to enable GAS.
However, in this case there’s a bit of a minefield you’re not aware of yet so I wanted to warn you.
At this stage in your bass journey you don’t really know what you actually want yet. None of us did. Bass tastes change as you gain experience.
You simply don’t have enough time on enough instruments yet to know what specifically really “clicks” for you. And it will change as you do gain experience, trust me.
You picked an excellent instrument to start with - better than most people pick, TBH - so you’re on a good track already. I would recommend playing and likely owning a couple more inexpensive yet high quality instruments of different times before plunking down a few grand on a top tier dream bass. Very likely you will learn that while you love your nice BB you really like a different type more.
And maybe not! That’s okay too - in fact one of my favorite basses is a BB that’s a little up the product range from yours. But you owe it to yourself to explore a bit and find the path that is best for your fingers and ears, and you haven’t had the exposure yet.
I’m seven years in, and neither of my current instruments are similar at all to the ones I was convinced were to be my favorites when I started out.
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This is very true. When I started and found out my old bass had a twisted neck and jammed truss rod and looking at repairs or a new one I was dead set on an Ibanez SR300E. I ended up doing my first mods on the old bass instead and my tastes have changed since then.
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That EBMM looked better in your ‘Lemonade’ warmup video than a Ferrari F40 looked in person at Newport Imports. 
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In the ‘Welcome’ thread a student posted up their EMG bass that looked easily four times more expensive than it was. Go check it out.
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Oh yeah the Feugo. It’s a BFR.
The neck is insane. I’m not easily distracted but this one needs a few seconds calibration each time I pick it up.
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This is key. All the playability and feel wont mean a damn thing if you always pass it up and lay something else or worse, don’t play at all.
When I had my basses and had some really nice stuff (not @Al1885 nice, but nice to me) including EBMM and SBMM ray34, I still loved playing my SBMM $350 Ray 4. Of course I put in a good pick up, but I just WANTED to play it more than the rest.
So yeah, if it makes you want to play, its the right bass for you, regardless of what anybody else thinks or says.
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I agree with @howard. I am coming up to three years in to the journey and have owned probably 20 basses. All have been bought second hand and most sold on. The reason for this is I delight in trying out different basses, different specs, different feels. Along the journey, I have discovered that Rickenbackers are not my thing, neither are Spectors. I’ve had two, wanted to like them - iconic tone and all that - but they don’t ‘feel’ right for me. I don’t particularly like Fender, the classic P is a bit m’eh, and as for Sire, having had two, it’s now a hard pass. But what I do like is Dingwall, my 1990s Hohner (which is actually a neck through) and my most recent purchase, a Stirling Ray34.
My likes and dislikes are based on how the basses have felt to me. There are people that love Rickenbackers, swear by Sires and are reverential to the Fender P. That’s them, I am me 
I think the key point is play lots of different basses to get a sense of what is ‘you’. Oh, and by buying second hand, I have only ‘lost money’ on one bass, and that was about £10, so net net, it’s an easy way to try stuff without breaking the bank.
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Thanks for the feedback everyone. I have a frieb=nd who is a guitarist who warned me that I am jumping into a rabbit hole where I would never have enough or the right bass, and that it would be a life long obsession to find the holy grail. I think he may be right. I am also looking at/for an acoustic bass, a DIY bass kit and ratty bass’ to restore.
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